A Swan Queen One Off Collection
by ToLiveFully
Summary: This is an ever expanding collection of Swan Queen one offs that I have been working on for a while now. I'll update more as I write them. These chapters have no particular sequence nor a linear timeline. I write them as they come to me- nothing more, nothing less. Rated M for future Swan Queen sexy times. (Will also take requests.) *Reviews Appreciated and Encouraged*
1. Chapter 1: Bringing You Lunch

"Hey, baby," a blonde head peaks its way through the now slightly open door to Regina's office. "I brought you lunch." Regina is incapable of hiding her smirk as the blonde emerges fully into her office lightly closing the door behind her with a tap of her toe.

"I see that. To what do I owe the privilege of your company in the middle of the day?" Regina responds driely, eyes watching the blonde make herself at home in the small sitting area off to the side of her desk.

"Honestly, there is absolutely nothing going on at the station today, and I'm bored out of my mind, so I thought I'd take a break for a little while. Your presence was the most enticing distraction I could come up with, so here I am," Emma grins at her wife's current mask of indifference as she remains seated behind her desk.

Regina looks up at Emma, glasses still resting on the tip of her nose before she speaks, "I thought we discussed you barging unannounced into my office during work hours."

Emma chuckles lightly before walking predatorially toward the love of her life who is currently being intentionally obtuse. "And I thought we discussed you treating me like one of your constituents rather than treating me like your wife, which I happen to be." As she finishes her reply, Emma reaches Regina's chair and turns it towards her own body before swiftly removing her wife's glasses and placing them on her desk a moment later. She then crouches down in between her wife's legs to look up at her with an endearing pout.

Regina finally allows her mask of indifference to drop before chuckling at her wife's antics. "That we did, my love." Emma takes the term of endearment as encouragement to shoot up and capture her wife's bottom lip in between her teeth before kissing her fiercely causing a needy moan to escape her wife's throat.

"I love you," Emma says sweetly as she pulls away from her wife's overly enticing mouth before she no longer has the ability to do so.

"As I love you," Regina replies as Emma takes her hands and lifts her lightly from her chair to walk her over to where the blonde had set up their lunch.


	2. Chapter 2: Our Son Is Home

"Moms! I'm home," Henry yells as he comes storming through the house sounding more reminiscent of a herd of elephants than one twelve year old boy.

"So much for cuddling quietly on the couch while our son is out with his grandfather," Emma moans tiredly as her son's constant noise makes ignoring him impossible. Regina hums her acknowledgment before curling her arms more securely around her wife's torso and burying her face further into her neck, placing soft pecks upon any skin she can reach.

"But we did cuddle on the couch quietly while our son was with his grandfather," Regina replies in between pecks to her wife's clavicle. Emma catches her wife's chin in between her fingers before drawing her ever closer and placing a chaste but promising kiss on her lips.

"That we did," Emma replied cheekily. "I just wish it wasn't already over."


	3. Chapter 3: Where Is Emma?

"Emma," Regina bellows from the upstairs balcony as she finishes securing her earring before waltzing down the stairs toward the kitchen. "Baby, I have an early meeting, so I need to leave for work in the next five minutes, so I'm not late, and I would appreciate a kiss goodbye before that happens."

Regina retrieves her travel mug before pouring herself a cup of coffee for the road as she waits for her fiance to come shuffling into the kitchen, which doesn't happen. Regina finishes putting the lid on her mug while trying to reign in her growing annoyance at being unable to locate her fiance before again calling for her invisible housemate, "Emma? Honey? I have to go." She sighs and begins heading toward the front door of the mansion before a tired groan reaches her ears. She follows the sound to the downstairs bathroom where she finds her fiance curled up on the floor next to the toilet, rocking herself back and forth.

Emma hears Regina enter and picks her head up from off of her knees to regard her, "Hey, baby, I thought you left."

"Oh, Emma, baby, are you throwing up again? Honey, why didn't you call me? I thought this had stopped," Regina crouches down in front of her pale and sweating fiance to brush some loose strands of hair out of her face.

"I thought it had stopped too, but it seems your child has other ideas," Emma laughs hollowly before turning a unique shade of green and quickly adjusting her body before wretching into the toilet once more. Regina rubs her hand up and down her fiance's back while reaching with her other hand to dampen the small towel sitting on the side of the sink to rub against Emma's heated skin.

"I'm sorry you don't feel well, beautiful," Regina breathes into Emma's ear as Emma cautiously rocks back into a sitting position to lean into Regina.

"It's okay. Small price to pay for the end result, don't you think?" Emma manages to turn her head enough to throw a smirk at her fiance as Regina chuckles behind her.

"I do think that, yes, but it doesn't make this part any easier, does it?"

"No, but you're here, and that does make it easier." Emma replies as she turns into her fiance, and Regina places a loving kiss on her forehead while resting her hand on the far more noticeable bump forming just below her fiance's belly button.

"I love you," Regina states as she draws small circles on Emma's skin.

"As I love you," Emma responds before beginning to straighten herself, pulling Regina up with her. "Now, you have to go to work, and I need to go brush my teeth for the next twenty minutes."

Regina chuckles, "Yes, dear." They walk out of the bathroom hand in hand and toward the front door before Regina turns to Emma with a fierce look in her eyes, "You'll call me if you need anything, yes?"

The statement is phrased as a question, but Emma knows that a question it definitely is not.

"Yes, ma'am," Emma responds dutifully before placing a light kiss on her fiance's cheek.

"Good girl."


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise

Emma lets the warm water cascade over her back and shoulders for a few minutes before beginning her morning shower routine. She doesn't remember her body aching this much the last time she went through this. After quickly washing her hair and body, she again stands motionless under the spray allowing the water to ease her tense muscles back into a state of semi-usefulness. As she reaches to turn the shower off, she feels an unpleasant cramp near the base of her spine before a strange release of pressure and a gush of liquid that didn't come from the shower head flows down her legs.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she whines as she turns the shower off and quickly goes about drying her body.

"Now? You're ready now? You couldn't have waited like one more day?" She questions the large protrusion of her abdomen before continuing, "No, of course you couldn't. Your mom is going to kill me."

Emma dresses herself as quickly as a nine month pregnant woman currently in labor can and picks up her cell phone to call her wife. It takes two rings before…

"Well, hello, beautiful. I was wondering when I would hear from you," there's a slight pause before Regina continues, "I miss you."

"I miss you too, baby," Emma responds, momentarily forgetting the reason for the call, lost in the love she hears in Regina's voice. As she remembers and begins to speak, Regina starts talking first.

"Emma, I'm glad you had me do this. Henry and I are having such a nice time together. We've been sightseeing and trying new foods, and it has just been absolutely lovely to be out of Storybrooke for a few days-"

"Regina-" Emma tries to interrupt.

"And though I still wish that you felt up to coming with us, I understand why you wanted us to have this time just for the two of us-"

"Regina-"

"Oh, Henry wants to talk to you for a minute. Hold on," Regina says as there's a pause in the conversation while she hands the phone to Henry.

"Hey, mom," his crackly preteen voice comes over the line.

"Hi, kid, are you having fun with your mom?" Emma asks her son as she plops down on the side of the master bed she shares with her wife, unable to keep herself upright at the moment.

"Yea, mom, we're having such a good time. The icecream place down the street is the best ever, and-"

Henry continues to ramble on and on about all of the lovely things he and Regina have been doing for the past two days while Emma tries to listen, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult as a sharp pain in her lower abdomen steals most of her attention.

Henry is still talking, but Emma has no choice but to interrupt, "Henry, I love how much fun you're having, but I really need to talk to your mom, kiddo. Can you please put her back on the phone for me?"

Henry seems to hear something in Emma's voice that alerts him, because he immediately responds, "Mom, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, kid," Emma tries, and fails, to reassure, "I just need your mom."

Before Henry can even respond, Regina steals the phone from his grasp, and it's her voice Emma hears come through the line, "Baby, what's wrong?" The concern in her tone is absolutely palpable.

"Regina, I-" The words never make it out of her mouth, because as she's about to speak them, her body is seized by a contraction and words become impossible as she lets out a pained hiss in their wake.

Regina's panic skyrockets at the sound, "Oh my God, Emma, are you in labor?"

Emma hums her acknowledgment of the question while she waits for the pain to subside before she can truly respond, "Surprise," she answers half-heartedly.

Regina begins talking so fast, Emma can hardly catch any of the words flying from between her lips, "Where are you right now? How long have you been in labor? Have you called the hospital? The 'we're having a baby bag' is by the front door. Emma, how could you possibly have talked me into leaving right now? Henry, pack your stuff. We're leaving in five minutes. I can't believe you're in labor, and I'm not there," Regina seems to remember herself and pauses to take a deep breath, "Emma?"

"Yes, my love?" Emma responds through a smirk.

"Are you okay?" Regina asks as calmly as she possibly can.

"Yes, my love. We're both fine. My water broke ten minutes ago. I have only had one contraction since then. I'm still at home, and I have not called the hospital, because my first call was to you."

"Okay," Regina responds. "Henry and I are leaving the hotel now. We will be back in Storybrooke within the hour. Please, call someone to come pick you up and take you to the hospital, and Henry and I will meet you there."

"Yes, my love." Emma says again. "Please drive safely, and just, hurry, but safely, okay? I-" Emma hesitates for a moment, still hating to show weakness even after all these years. "I need you."

"I know, beautiful. I'll be there soon. I promise. I love you."

"And I you," Emma responds before ending the call and dialing her mom's number.

"Hey, mom, any chance you aren't currently preoccupied and can maybe come pick me up and take me to the hospital?"

…

"Emma, you're doing so well, baby. We're almost there, my love," Regina's words of praise whispered in her ear are the only thing keeping Emma sane at this point. The pain is unimaginable, and she can hardly see straight let alone think properly, but Regina is here she keeps repeating to herself. Regina is here. She's here, and we're okay, and we're having a baby.

"Regina," Emma whimpers as she tightens her grip again on the hand holding her own.

"I know, baby, I know it hurts. But I'm right here. We're so close now, Emma," Regina keeps reassuring the love of her life as best she can as her wife leans into her while the contraction wracking her body hits full swing and Emma cries out again.

Emma has kept Regina as close as possible since she arrived eight hours earlier. And now, that it's almost time to begin pushing, Regina has taken up residence behind Emma on the hospital bed, her left hand grasping Emma's while her right arm wraps protectively around Emma's middle with Emma leaning against her.

The contraction fades and Emma leans even more heavily into Regina, exhausted and in pain, "Regina, I'm so tired. I can't. Baby, I'm so tired," Emma speaks nonsensically while Regina presses kisses into her damp hair.

"I know, beautiful. I know. It'll be over soon. We'll be holding our precious baby in our arms so soon, and it'll all have been worth it," Regina tells her as she holds her wife and their currently unborn child as tightly to her own body as she can manage.

The doctor and team of nurses reenter the room as Regina continues placing kisses in her wife's hair. The doctor lifts the sheet currently protecting Emma's privacy and says she's finally ready to begin.

"Okay, Emma, when the next contraction starts, I need you to start pushing, okay?"

"Okay," Emma moans, while simultaneously tightening her hold on Regina.

"Here we go, my love," Regina whispers lovingly into her ear. "I've got you."

The doctor breaks in again as Emma's contraction starts, "Okay, Emma, push."

Emma moans breathily through gritted teeth as she uses all of the strength left in her exhausted body to push. Her face turns red, then blue, then purple, but she doesn't stop until the doctor tells her to.

"That was great Emma," the doctor says.

But it's Regina's voice that calms and encourages her as she hears her wife in her ear, "You're doing so well, honey. We're going to meet our baby soon."

This continues for another fourty five minutes, the doctor telling Emma to push, Emma using all of her strength to bring her child into the world, and Regina whispering words of love and encouragement into her ear every step of the way.

"Okay, Emma, we need one more big push. On this next one," the doctor states while Emma tries to remember to keep breathing.

"Regina," Emma moans, "baby, I'm so, I can't do this anymore."

Regina soothingly shushes in Emma's ear, "One more big push, Emma, that's all we need, and we'll get to meet our baby, honey. One more. You can do this, and I'm right here. I have you."

"It hurts, Regina," Emma whines as she sucks in lungfulls of oxygen while she still can.

"I know, my love. I know. One more push Emma, and it'll all be over. Please, baby girl, this is it," Regina presses kisses wherever she can reach on Emma's skin.

"Okay, Emma, here we go. I need you to give me everything you've got left," the doctor says as Emma feels her muscles begin to tighten yet again.

Emma screams as she forces her body to use the last of her energy stores to push as hard as she can before she feels an enormous release of pressure, and her body sags back into Regina once more.

Regina is already pressing kisses into her hair, "You did it! Emma! You did it. You are so incredible, my love. I love you. I love you so much."

Emma nods her head tiredly as she watches the nurses carry their newborn across the room to clean the baby off. Neither her nor Regina have ever been happier than the moment they hear their child cry for the first time. Regina pulls herself up slightly straighter on the bed while the doctor comes walking back to them with a perfectly cleaned, bright pink bundle in his arms.

"Congratulations, it's a girl."


	5. Chapter 5: Do You Love Me?

"Do you love me?" Emma questions almost shyly as she rolls over and into Regina's arms.

Regina hums as she readjusts her body to be more firmly against that of her lover, "You know that I do."

"Okay, good," Emma replies, "Because I kind of told Henry that I'd teach him how to ride a dirtbike and shoot a gun for his birthday."

Regina doesn't hesitate to practically shove her lover away from her, "You told him WHAT?"

Emma doesn't even respond. She is unable to say anything at all through the tears streaming down her cheeks and the laughter choking out of her throat.

"Why are you laughing?" Regina replies hotly. "I do not find this funny at all. You will tell our son the second that he wakes up that all of the things you promised him were nothing more than a severe lapse in judgment, and-" Anything else Regina is about to say is halted by Emma's lips encasing her own.

"I was kidding, my love," Emma says as she pulls her lips far enough away from her love's to be able to see her face. "I knew you wouldn't respond well, but I never thought it would be that awesome. I thought for a second that you might actually fireball me."

"I still might," Regina huffs. "That was not funny, Emma."

"I thought it was kinda funny," Emma says smirking. "You're cute when you're mad."

Regina doesn't dignify that statement with a response. Instead she huffs dramatically again and lies back down in her former position while avoiding eye contact with Emma. She immediately feels the weight of a farmiliar warm body press into hers as gentle kisses are pressed all over her face. She opens her eyes to see beautiful green gazing down at her.

"Do you still love me?" Emma says, that hint of insecurity she can't seem to defeat still creeping into her tone.

Regina doesn't hesitate before pressing a barely there kiss to the corner of Emma's mouth before responding with as much sincerity as she can muster, "Yes, I do."


	6. Chapter 6: We Need to Talk

"Regina, we need to talk," Emma blurts as she halts their forward trajectory by tugging on Regina's hand.

"About what?" Regina questions with what resembles fear burning in her gaze.

"I-" Emma hesitates. She has been through this before. She has done this before, but she has never had to do this exactly. She has never had to say the words that she is trying so desperately to release from the back of her throat. "I-"

Regina pulls her hand from the security of Emma's and tries to fight back tears. She knows where this is going. She had thought. It doesn't matter what she thought. She's done something, and now Emma is done with her and is trying to find a way to break up with her gently.

"Emma, it's fine. I get it. You don't have to explain anything to me. I'll just-" Regina stops talking as she turns to walk away from the woman who undoubtly holds her heart. Don't cry, Regina. She tells herself again and again. Just don't cry.

"Regina, wait, where are you going?" Emma questions fearfully as she grabs Regina's elbow and turns her back to face her. "What are you even talking about right now?"

Regina seems momentarily stunned and responds barely above a whisper, "You're breaking up with me." If the tone of her voice didn't give away her sorrow at the thought, then the defeated droop of her shoulders and sparkling tears in her eyes definitely do.

"Regina, no. God, no," Emma states defeatedly. "Baby, when are you going to understand that I'm not going anywhere? That I'm in this, with you, for the long run," Emma pauses briefly before finishing her mini tirade with a quiet, "I love you."

Regina gasps lightly before looking up into the shimmering emerald eyes of the woman she has fallen head over heels for, "I love you too."

Emma chuckles driely, "I know you do, Regina. I know."

Emma takes that moment to fall into Regina's personal space and wrap her arms securely around the love of her life, inhaling the sweet scent of Regina's perfume. Regina, in turn, wraps herself wholly around her Sherriff and allows the tension to slowly ebb from her body.

"Wait," Regina finally interrupts, "If you're not breaking up with me, then what is it that we need to talk about?"

"Oh," Emma mutters against Regina's neck, "Well, now that we've experienced that dramatic prerequisite to the conversation, it all feels rather unnecessary."

"Emma, honey, you only use big words when you're super nervous and don't want to tell me something," Regina mentions as she pulls away from Emma slightly to be able to look her in the eye.

"It's, I just, well-" Emma stumbles while trying to figure out how to say what she's trying to say. "Regina, do you, umm, know everything your magic is capable of?" Emma finally asks.

Regina seems momentarily confused before hesitantly responding, "Well, no, I mean, I guess I don't, but I'm not really practicing much magic anymore, Emma. Why do you ask?" She has tried very hard to keep the suspicion out of her tone, but Emma picks up on it and winces.

"I- Regina, I'm-" Emma struggles, but she finally finds the force of will to power through, sort of, "Regina, you're the only person I've been with for a very long time now, and you know that, and I don't know what happened or how, and I've known for like thirteen hours, and I've been trying to figure out how to tell you, and that's why I said we should take a walk together, and-"

"Emma," Regina interrupts, "Spit it out. What are you saying?"

"I'm pregnant."


	7. Chapter 7: A Whiney Swan

"Regina," Emma whines with the biggest puppy dog eyes she can muster already in place, "I don't want to go." She falls exasperatedly onto the bed next to her wife who is putting on her shoes before continuing, "Can't you just go and get some stuff and then bring it back and then I'll wear it without complaint, and we can skip the part where I have to be there too?" Regina grins down at her pouting wife before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"Emma, I love you with all of my heart, but if you honestly think that those puppy dog eyes of yours are going to convince me that you should get to stay home while I go maternity clothes shopping alone, then you, my love, are sorely mistaken." Regina straightens and stands before turning and reaching her hands out to help up her heavily pregnant wife who is still pouting.

"Regina," Emma whines again as she stands.

"Don't you Regina me, Emma Swan-Mills," Regina chastises gently. "I refuse to go alone, number one, because this is something you and I are supposed to be doing together, and number two, because I'm not even the one who's pregnant."

Emma sticks her lip out in a futile last attempt to change her wife's mind, but when she sees the barely existent scowl beginning to mar her wife's beautiful face, she gives in with a huff.

"Fine, I'm coming. I'm coming," she gripes as she releases her wife's hands, which she'd still been holding after using them to get up off the bed. Regina follows behind her wife with a solid smirk on her face.

"Thank you, dear," she chuckles as she smacks her wife's jean clad ass on the way past her and out the door of their bedroom.

"But I'm not going to like it," Emma calls from the landing a few moments later as Regina steps into the foyer to begin putting on her coat and grabbing her purse. Regina merely chuckles.


	8. Chapter 8: Marry Me

Regina is currently sitting in her den drinking a glass of her apple cider and going over this year's budget reports, which happen to be due on Friday. She has been at this for hours and would like nothing more than to be able to enjoy her Wednesday evening with her girlfriend, but instead she's perusing paperwork and putting her fifth grade math skills to good use. She has finally given up hope of accomplishing anything else this evening when she hears a throat clear in the doorway.

"Hi, baby," Emma practically purrs, "Are you still working?"

Emma is currently wearing nothing more than an oversized cable knit sweater and a pair of boyshort underwear. Regina takes a moment to appreciate the delicious sight before her before responding to her girlfriend's question, "No, my love, I'm done for the evening. Why do you ask?"

Instead of responding, Emma merely saunters toward where her girlfriend still sits on the couch and proceeds to remove the wire rimmed glasses that have been perched on the end of Regina's nose for the better part of three hours. She places the glassses gently on the coffee table behind her and gracefully kicks her leg over, so she can squat down and straddle Regina's thighs before placing a light kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I ask, my love," Emma replies, voice dripping sex, "because if you don't touch me right now, I am going upstairs and running a bath and taking care of myself. I thought you'd want the opportunity to be involved before that happens."

Regina moans deeply in the back of her throat as Emma punctuates her statement by grasping Regina's hips in her hands and hunkering her own body down into her girlfriend's before slowly grinding her core down into Regina's lap.

"Emma," Regina breaths, half sigh, half moan, as she brings up her own hands to grab two delicious handfuls of her girlfriend's perfectly toned ass in order to help guide the movement of Emma's hips.

"Uh," Emma lets out a breathy little sigh when she feels Regina's hands on her already heated flesh. She places a heated kiss on Regina's lips that's all tongue and desire before continuing, "God, Regina, please touch me. I'm already so ready, baby. Please."

Regina knows Emma is ready. She can feel the heat of the girl's sex through Emma's underwear and through the fabric of her own skirt as Emma continues to rock into her. Pregnancy had first made Emma extremely sick and almost volatile, but now, it's made her absolutely insatiable- a fact for which Regina is nothing but grateful.

"Would you like for me to make you feel good?" Regina husks as she begins slowly sliding Emma's sweater up and over her head.

"Oh, God, yes," Emma breathes out when Regina's hands move from her ass and up her abdomen, throwing the sweater across the floor, only to then cup extremely sensitive breasts before rolling her thumbs over straining nipples. Emma can hardly keep herself together with the feel of Regina's hands on her skin. She's rocking even more quickly into Regina's lap as she makes quick work of the buttons on Regina's blouse. When Emma finally has Regina's shirt and bra removed, she ducks her head to place kisses on every inch of skin within her reach while Regina continues her own ministrations on Emma's chest.

"Emma," Regina breathes as Emma sucks particularly hard at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Emma merely grins against her girlfriend's skin while slowly raising her head to capture her lover's lips. Emma pushes her tongue against Regina's lips until Regina opens her mouth and lets Emma practically devour her from the inside out. It's all teeth and lips and tongue until both women pull back breathless and desperate for release.

Emma's patience seems to ebb first as she quickly jumps up from straddling her girlfriend's thighs to remove the last piece of fabric separating her desire from the open air of the den. She then drops to her knees in front of her lover to remove Regina's stilletos, pantyhose, and skirt, leaving her girlfriend in not but her lacy black thong.

"You are so beautiful," Emma sighs as she leans forward to pepper kisses up her girlfriend's toned calves and thighs. When she reaches the thin layer of lace that separates her from her lover's heat, she presses a gentle kiss right on top of her girlfriend's sex, earning her an excited hiss from Regina, before using her teeth to drag the offending piece of material down her girlfriend's thighs as Regina raises her hips to speed the process. Once the fabric is off of her legs and discarded on the floor, Regina takes the opportunity to pull Emma back up to her to suck at her bottom lip before pulling the girl against her and flipping them so the blonde is pinned down into the couch with Regina deliciously on top of her.

"Regina," Emma whines, "please, honey, I need you to touch me." Emma is all but writhing under the delicious pressure of Regina's body atop her own.

Regina takes another moment to enjoy her girlfriend's absolutely wanton state before replying gently, "As you wish." She nips Emma's ear as she pushes her hand down Emma's abdomen, gently scratching her fingernails over the skin of Emma's hardly visible baby bump, before reaching her desired destination. She takes her time rubbing two fingers up and down Emma's heated slit, humming in delight at the amount of moisture she finds there before running her thumb in tight circles around Emma's already sensitive bud.

"Uh, yes, oh God Regina," Emma breathes as her hips buck into Regina's hand of their own volition.

"You're so wet for me," Regina whispers into Emma's ear as she watches her girlfriend's beautiful mouth form a perfect 'o' when Regina abruptly enters her heated opening with three fingers.

"Oh, please don't stop," Emma replies breathlessly as Regina begins moving in and out of her at a painstakingly torturous pace. Regina takes every moan and gasp as a sign of encouragement as she expertly works her girlfriend up. She begins grinding the heel of her hand into Emma's clit with every thrust into the source of her girlfriend's heat. Before long, Emma is a mess of sighs and gasps, her hips bucking into Regina's hand for further stimulation.

"Uh, uh, Regina, God, baby, right there. I'm so close. I'm gonna-" All words are halted as Regina presses the heel of her hand forcefully onto Emma's clit while thrusting as deep into her as her finger's will go, shooting Emma over the edge and into bliss with a silent gasp of absolute pleasure. Regina enjoys the view of Emma's back perfectly arched and her breathing and movements halted as she finds release. Regina continues her movements within her girlfriend, helping her enjoy the high for as long as possible before slowly bringing her back down.

Regina lies next to Emma's still form, rubbing soothing circles on the skin of Emma's stomach, while Emma struggles to regulate her own breathing.

Emma finally turns her face to Regina and presses a whisper of a kiss to her cheek before speaking, "Thank you, baby, that was… perfect."

Regina chuckles ruefully, "You're welcome, my dear. Are you feeling better?"

"So much better," Emma laughs. "But, you know what would make me feel even better?"

"Hmm?" Regina questions as her focus is still on the patterns her fingers are making across her girlfriend's ever growing bump.

"You. Here," Emma replies and points to her own mouth as Regina glances up to see what her lover is referring to. Regina looks at her girlfriend confused for a moment before a coy smirk overakes her features as she realizes what exactly Emma has in mind.

She takes a moment to kiss her girlfriend's beautiful mouth before dreamily responding, "As you wish."

Regina climbs up her lover's body before stopping with her thighs on either side of Emma's head and her heat hovering over her girlfriend's mouth. Emma wastes no times with words or encouragements, she simply wraps her arms around her lover's hips and pulls Regina's core to her mouth, licking her entire slit before sucking gently on her bundle of nerves.

"Emma, uh, oh God," Regina sighs one breathy moan after another as Emma licks from the bundle of nerves down to Regina's opening and back up a few times before plunging her tongue as far into Regina's heat as she can manage.

"Uh!" Regina isn't able to stifle the cry that leaves her lips as her girlfriend has her worked up so high she can hardly breathe. She begins grinding her hips on her girlfriend's face as Emma puts everything she's got into successfully bringing her beautiful lover to orgasm. It doesn't take long before Regina's hips begin bucking uncoordinatedly and her cries grow louder and louder until her entire body tenses and she comes with a gasp. Emma continues licking every inch of her girlfriend's heat as Regina rocks back and forth coming down from the high before Regina finally slides herself down Emma's body and curls up on top of her girlfriend's chest.

They're both still breathing heavy when Emma finally breaks their comfortable silence, "I love you, you know."

"Mmm," Regina hums, "That I do, my dear. And I love you."

Emma is silent for a moment before she raises her head to look down at the beautiful creature still resting across her abdomen. She pauses for a moment before whispering, "Marry me."

Regina almost believes she didn't hear what she thinks she heard until she looks up into emerald eyes that look more vulnerable than she has ever seen them.

"What?" She asks.

Emma looks at her almost incredulously before replying, "You heard me, Regina. I might have an actual heart attack if you make me repeat it."

"I- Emma, I," Regina stutters trying to find words and falls silent. It's not until Emma starts to pull away from her that Regina realizes she has yet to respond.

"Emma-" she begins again.

"It's fine, Regina," Emma interrupts. "It was stupid of me to ask. I know we've got enough going on as it is, and I don't want you to feel like you should tell me yes just because I'm carrying your child." Emma sighs and tugs a hand through her hair as she effectively sits up with Regina sitting up next to her. "Just forget I said anything."

She goes to stand but Regina grabs her hand and tugs her back down again before taking Emma's chin between her fingers and forcing the blonde to look at her. Emma does so and gasps slightly when Regina connects their lips in a firm press before pulling back just enough to whisper against kiss swollen lips, "Yes."

"Yes?" Emma questions disbelievingly.

Regina pecks her girlfriend's mouth again, "Yes."


	9. Chapter 9: Hippopotamus

"Regina," Emma hollers down the stairs to her wife, "your son just called me a pale excuse for a hippopotamus." Regina can't help but chuckle at that but stops herself from continuing when she hears heavy foot falls descending the stairs toward the kitchen.

"Hello, my love," Regina says, smirking at her wife when she sees Emma waddle into the kitchen.

"It's not funny, Regina," Emma pouts as she goes to sit on one of the barstools at the counter. Regina almost begins laughing again when she notices the crocodile tears currently marring her wife's beautiful pregnancy glow.

"Oh, baby, please don't cry," Regina pleads as she comes over to stand between her wife's legs and pulls her into a fierce hug. "Honey, you know he was just messing with you."

"I know," Emma sniffles into Regina's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I'm not upset. I swear. I'm just- I can't stop."

"I know, honey. It's okay. You're okay. Just take a few deep breaths," Regina soothes in Emma's ear as she places kisses in soft, blonde curls.

Eventually, Emma's hiccuping breaths even out, and she whispers, "I'm okay now."

Regina pulls away from her wife slightly to look into shiny green orbs before asking, "You're sure?"

Emma sighs heavily, "Yes, I'm sure." She takes one more moment to get herself back under control before continuing, "Do you need help with dinner?"

"That would be lovely," Regina responds, placing chaste kisses on both of her wife's eyelids before pulling away to walk around the counter and finish chopping vegetables. "Could you keep stirring the meat for me please baby?" She asks Emma as Emma slowly makes her way around the counter.

"Yes ma'am," Emma responds lightly as she briefly leans into her wife's side to place a kiss on her cheek before beginning her task.

They work in companionable silence until Emma feels a sharp pain race through her abdomen causing her to practically double over in shock and pain, accidentally placing her hand too near the hot burner on the stove.

"Ah!" She screams out as the palm of her hand comes into contact with the searing heat of the stove, burning her skin and momentarily outshining the cramp in her stomach.

Regina spins so quickly, she almost gives herself whiplash when she hears Emma's cry of pain. As she rushes toward her, Emma crumples to the floor in a heap, grasping her wrist in an attempt to stem the flow of pain caused by her burned flesh.

"Emma," Regina says horrified as she falls to her knees next to her wife. "God, Emma, what happened?" She practically screeches as she takes Emma's hand in between her own, holding it gently as she examines the burn.

"I had a cramp, and I accidentally touched the burner, and-" Emma hisses harshly when Regina's palm comes into contact with the burn on her own before she feels the heat of Regina's magic begin to slowly draw the pain out of the wound before it's healed completely.

"There," Regina starts when she's completed healing Emma's wound. She looks into Emma's eyes as Emma breathes a sigh of relief and continues, "You had a cramp?"

"Yes, it happens, Regina," Emma responds cheekily.

Regina sighs before pressing further, "You're sure it wasn't a contraction?"

"Regina, honey, I'm not even eight months pregnant yet-" Regina attempts to interrupt, but Emma continues quickly, "But even if I was, I can assure you that if I was having contractions, you would be the first to know, and they would be far worse than what just happened."

Regina still looks less than convinced, "You promise?"

"I promise," Emma responds. "Now, help me get my fat ass off the floor. The handle on this cabinet is stabbing me in the ribs."

Regina tries to let Emma's joking tone lighten her own mood, but she's still too on edge. "Yes, dear," she responds as she lifts herself off the floor only to reach down and grab Emma's arms to help her rise as well. As soon as Emma is steady on her feet once more, Regina lurches into her and wraps her arms tightly around her wife, pulling their bodies as flush as she can, given the growing child in Emma's womb.

"Hey, I'm okay," Emma soothes as she rubs her hands up and down her wife's back.

"I know," Regina sighs before pulling her face away to catch her wife's eyes, "but you scared me."

"I know. I'm sorry, baby."

"I forgive you," Regina responds half-heartedly before pulling Emma into yet another embrace. "I love you, Emma."

"I love you too, Regina," Emma replies without hesitation. It's at this exact moment that the child currently sandwiched between them kicks with all the force its little legs can muster causing Emma to jolt and Regina to giggle like a school girl before bending at the waste to be even with Emma's growing belly.

"Well, hello, little one," Regina cooes to the child growing within Emma's belly. "I love you too," Regina whispers before placing a gentle kiss on Emma's swollen middle. When she straightens back up to again try to finish making dinner, she sees Emma's eyes full of tears yet again.

"Baby," Regina says concerned as she begins rubbing her hands up and down Emma's biceps, "What's the matter?"

"I'm just really happy," Emma says in between gasping breaths. Regina smiles brightly at her wife before taking her hands and pressing kisses to her knuckles.

"Me too, my dear. Me too."


	10. Chapter 10: A Sneak Attack Gone Awry

Emma never imagined that at the ripe old age of thirty six she would be in the position she is now- wedged between the couch and the coffee table, attempting to crawl across the floor alongside a five and three year old.

"Mommy," the five year old 'whispers' in Emma's ear, "what happens if we're captured?"

"If we're captured, it's every man for himself," Emma replies conspiratorially.

To which the three year old crinkles her nose and responds, "Mommy, we're not a men."

"That is true, baby, we aren't men, but it's just an expression," Emma replies quickly. "Okay, are we ready troops?"

"Yea!" Both girls answer simulatenously.

Emma shushes them with a finger to her mouth as they all begin to crawl forward toward the kitchen. Their progress is laborious and slow, but they make their way quietly across the floor of the family room on stomachs and elbows before inching into the kitchen where Emma catches a glimpse of her wife leaning against the counter by the refrigerator gesturing with her hands while talking into the phone pressed between her shoulder and ear.

"Alright," Emma whispers as loudly as she dares. "This is it. You remember the plan?" Both girls nod dramatically while Emma just smirks at them. "Here goes nothing," she whispers mostly to herself as she stands up to walk around the other side of the counter and wrap her arms around her wife's middle before pecking soft kisses onto the skin of her neck.

"Hi, beautiful," Emma whispers into Regina's hair as her wife ends her phone call.

"Hi yourself," Regina responds, leaning back into her wife's strong arms. They stay like this for a moment, wrapped in each other's warmth before Regina turns in the embrace to look Emma in the eyes. "The house is too quiet," she states before glancing around her.

"It's not too quiet. It's perfect," Emma responds before placing her hands on her wife's cheeks and pulling her into a firm but loving kiss.

"Emma," Regina breathes as she pulls away. "Stop trying to distract me. Where are our children?"

"Oh, they're, umm, reading, quietly, together, on the couch," Emma stutters, which has Regina's eyes narrowing disbelievingly.

"Emma Swan-Mills," she says threateningly. "Where are our children?"

Emma looks suitably chastised before turning her gaze to the floor and responding, "I just told you, honey, they're-"

It's at this exact moment that two very familiar giggles can be heard coming from the opposite end of the countertop. As Regina looks up to locate where the sound came from, she notices two very distinct blonde heads of hair ducking back down behind the counter before giggling again.

Regina goes to call them out of their current hiding spot when Emma interrupts her thought and warns them, "Girls, we've been made! Run! I'll hold her off!" Suddenly two emerald eyed cuties come screaming from behind the counter and head as quickly as they can for the stairs while Regina merely giggles into Emma's neck, as Emma continues 'holding her off'.

"Go, girls! Go! Save yourselves!" Emma stops when she hears the pitter patter of little feet and breathless giggles on the landing, heading toward the girls' room and begins placing loving kisses on her wife's jaw. "That was fun." Regina just laughs at her.

"Tell me, dear, what was the point of that?" Regina says before humming deeply in the back of her throat when Emma puts a well-placed kiss on the sensitive spot under her ear.

"That was me successfully getting the girls out of the room for at least the next six minutes, so that I can do this-" Emma smirks as she wraps her arms as tightly around her wife as she can before kissing her deeply, dragging her tongue over Regina's plump red lips before biting down enticingly on the bottom one.

"Mmm," Regina moans, "And why did you want to do that so badly?"

"Because I'm madly in love with you, and I haven't showed you yet today," Emma responds while rubbing her hands up and down her wife's back.

Regina grins brightly at her wife, "Well, I happen to be madly in love you with as well."

"Good. Otherwise, this whole married, living together, having lots of sex and babies thing might have been slightly less thrilling." Regina laughs.

"Perhaps. Although, we haven't had sex today yet," Regina responds matter of factly before winking at her wife.

"Not for lack of trying," Emma whines into her wife's neck as she presses herself further into her love. Regina merely chuckles anew.

"I know, dear."

"You're so sexy," Emma continues whining.

"I'm glad you still think so," Regina responds, sounding slightly self conscious.

Emma picks up on the insecure lull in her wife's voice, "Are you kidding? I don't think I have ever been more attracted to another human being in all my life than I am to you right now. And that includes that time you wore that black dress with the slit up your thigh and those red hooker pumps."

"Well," Regina responds through a self satisfied smirk, "That is saying something, isn't it? That dress is the sexiest piece of clothing I own."

"Mmm," Emma hums appreciatively as Regina places a kiss on her throat, "That may be so, but it will never hold a candle to right now."

Regina laughs again as she and Emma remain in each other's embrace, swaying slightly and pressing tender kisses to each other's skin. The moment is cut far too short when the sound of arguing can be heard coming from the girls' room upstairs. Emma audibly groans as she begins slowly extracting herself from her wife's arms.

"That's my cue," she says dejectedly as she places one last peck on the tip of her wife's nose before turning to head up the stairs.

"That it is," Regina responds to her wife's retreating form. "Oh, Emma-" Regina calls before her wife can get too far away.

"Yes, baby?" Emma questions as her blonde head pokes back into the kitchen.

"Don't forget my doctor's appointment is tomorrow afternoon. I know you said you have to go to the station for a little while in the morning, but I would prefer you not be late."

"Yes ma'am," Emma responds sarcastically to her wife, earning an eye roll from Regina. Emma saunters back over before placing a kiss on her wife's temple, "I wouldn't miss it for the world." She pauses to soak in her wife's scent before continuing, "Now, if you will please excuse me, I have to go ensure that the two already born small humans that reside in this house don't tear each other apart before we can welcome the next one into the world."

Regina shakes her head and laughs before rubbing her palm gently over her growing middle, "We definitely wouldn't want that."


	11. Chapter 11: A Quiet Moment

"Uh, Regina, yes," Emma moans deep in the back of her throat as Regina's hips rock into her own at a bruising pace. Regina lets out a high pitched little moan when Emma's nails dig into the skin of her back.

"Regina," Emma whimpers through a breathy exhale, "Fuck, I'm so close." Regina bites down on her bottom lip as she nods, too turned on by the swear word that just escaped her lover's lips to immediately respond.

"Me too," she finally breathes as her bucking hips become slightly erratic and her mouth falls open into a silent 'o'. Emma takes the opportunity to lift her head from off her pillow and take her girlfriend's bottom lip between her teeth. That's all it takes as Regina's body jerks and then goes completely motionless, tumbling over the edge and into bliss with Emma following mere seconds after. After long moments, they slowly start to rock into each other again just long enough to work each other down from the high before Regina's arms finally give out, and she crashes into Emma's body below her.

They're both exhausted and breathing heavily, but Regina finds the strength to lift her head from off Emma's chest to place a kiss on the corner of the blonde's mouth.

"That was lovely," she whispers before burrowing her face more deeply into Emma's neck.

Emma simply chuckles and nods before nuzzling the top of Regina's head with her nose and closing her eyes to enjoy a quiet moment with her girlfriend.


	12. Chapter 12: Preference

"So," Emma starts as she scoots herself into a sitting position on top of the sink in the master bathroom where Regina is currently putting on her makeup, "do you have a preference?"

Regina turns her head to momentarily regard her wife before responding, "A preference in regards to what, my love?"

"The baby," Emma leaves the 'duh' out of her response, but it's definitely implied by her tone. Regina's lips quirk up into a tiny smile, which always seems to happen when the topic of conversation is any of her children.

"I will give you the exact same answer I gave the last time you asked me that exact question," Regina starts as she moves to stand in between her wife's legs. "I want us to bring a beautiful, healthy baby into the world together. I could not care less if the child is male or female. Our baby will be loved unconditionally either way." She punctuates her statement with a quick peck to Emma's lips before bending at the waste to place a gentle kiss atop Emma's still flat stomach. "And speaking of our babies being loved unconditionally, where are our children?"

"Watching cartoons together downstairs while they wait somewhat patiently for my parents to show up with Neal, so they can all go to the park," Emma responds as she hops down from her perch and straightens out her clothing.

"Your parents are sure they can handle taking all three of them to the park?" Regina questions worriedly. Emma merely chuckles at her.

"They will be absolutely fine, and they're going to have a blast. I promise. You worry too much, babe."

"I worry just enough, thank you very much," Regina retorts before playfully sticking her tongue out at her wife. Emma merely giggles at Regina's antics before placing a chaste kiss to her wife's lips and exiting their bathroom.


	13. Chapter 13: A Whiney Wife

"Emma," Regina whines childishly in her wife's direction.

"Regina," Emma remarks sarcastically from across the room, though her words hold no real irritation.

"This is what death feels like," Regina responds, seemingly missing her wife's tone.

Emma laughs under her breath before coming to sit down on the bed next to her sick wife, "It's the flu, Regina, not malaria. Give it a few days, and you'll be right as rain."

Regina huffs at Emma, but the huff turns into a hum of satisfaction as Emma begins to sooth her burning skin with a cold, wet washcloth she has just retrieved from the bathroom.

"I hate being sick," Regina whines again as Emma leans over her to place her lips to her wife's forehead to ensure her fever has not advanced.

Emma sighs sympathetically, "I know, beautiful. I'm sorry you don't feel good." Emma compliments her words with a kiss to her wife's cheek. "Can I get you anything?" Regina pouts before responding in the negative. "What can I do, baby girl? To make you feel better?"

Regina looks at Emma with a miserable set of puppy dog eyes, the likes of which Emma has only ever experienced on the rarest of occassions. Those eyes immediately turn her into putty in Regina's hands. Regina is silent for another moment before responding almost sheepishly, "Hold me."

Emma smiles lovingly at the love of her life before responding in the affirmative, "As you wish, my love."

Emma rises from her perch on the side of their bed before walking to the en suite and placing the wet washcloth on the sink. She sidles back toward their bed and curls up under the comforter next to her wife. Regina quickly roles over and burrows her face into the warm skin of Emma's neck while simultaneously wrapping her arms around her wife's torso. Emma places a gentle kiss to the top of her wife's head as she snuggles into their embrace.

"Sleep, baby. I've got you."


	14. Chapter 14: A Living Nightmare

"Emma!" Regina shrieks at the top of her lungs as she watches the blade of the hunting knife sink into her wife's abdomen, causing Emma to scream in undiluted agony. Regina struggles violently against the ropes barring her from aiding her wounded wife. "Why are you doing this? Please stop! I'm begging you. You don't need to hurt her. Hurt me instead, please," she sobs at her attacker, trying desperately to bargain with him, anything to get him away from Emma.

"Why am I doing this?" their attacker questions, turning his head to lock eyes with Regina. "Why am I doing this? You know damn well why I am doing this Regina, and everything that is happening right now, Your Majesty, it's happening because of you. You're going to watch your true love bleed out in front of your eyes, and there will be nothing you can do to stop it."

He then turns his gaze back to the woman he is still holding upright, one hand gripping her neck and the other still latched onto the blade protruding from just below her left breast. He stares deliberately into anguished, emerald orbs as he forces the blade more vigorously into Emma's abdomen, causing her to jolt and cry out once more before he pulls her face as close to his own as he can manage and gently whispers, "This is what you get for loving the Evil Queen."

As he finishes his statement with a snarl, he shoves the blonde's body away from his own, causing her to crash heavily to the floor, further agitating her now mangled flesh. His whispering breath across her face had been soft and startlingly sincere; whereas, Regina's voice is wrought with terror as she screams and struggles. He walks away from them then, leaving them to their fate- Emma's shallow breaths and the cries of the Evil Queen pursuing him down the dank corridor.


	15. Chapter 15: A Living Nightmare Part 2

Regina's wrists are chaffed and bloody and her voice ragged and fading. Her head falls to her chest as endless tears stream down her sunken face. Emma had tried to get to her, tried to drag herself across the floor to free her, but to no avail. Emma had gotten about halfway before exhaustion had forced immobility upon her once more. She now lies in a scarlet puddle, the blood seeping from her wound unfaltering. She fights for each intake of oxygen as Regina becomes lost in her own mind trying desperately to come up with a solution, a way to save her love. There must be something. For not only are they running out of options, they are running out of a far more precious commodity: time. Emma can't hold on for much longer, which makes Regina's blood boil and her heart ache in a way she has never felt before.

Regina's internal rant is interrupted by a small voice, not more than a rush of breath; the Evil Queen's name carressing Emma's cracked and bloody lips as it's expelled into the room, "Regina, honey, I can't-" her sentence interrupted by a wet sob as Emma shutters and forces her teeth to stop chattering so she can continue, "Baby, I'm so cold. I can't stop shaking."

"You're going to be okay, my love. I'm going to get us out of here. I promise. You just have to hold on for me a little while longer, beautiful," Regina pleads with her wife as she futiley attempts to assess Emma's wound from several yards away. She begins tugging on the ropes once more, though she knows the effort will be fruitless. She cannot just give up. This cannot be the end.

Regina thinks of her wife, of their children, of the beautiful happy ending they have all found together. She hears the girls' laughter echo in her mind; she sees Henry's wide, bright smile; she smells the vanilla of Emma's favorite body lotion. She will not lose her true love. She will not lose her happy ending. She will not let her children lose their mother.

The feeling begins in her soul, a tangible warmth she can't quite explain, before it races through her bloodstream and collects in the palms of her hands. Regina continues to focus on the people she loves, her entire being bringing that love to the surface before the feeling raises goosebumps over every inch of her skin and is then abruptly expelled from her body in all directions in a blinding, white light.


	16. Chapter 16: A Living Nightmare Part 3

"Emma, please, please don't leave me. You can't do this. I need you here. Our children need you here. Emma, honey, look at me. Emma!" Regina's pleading cries die in her throat as Emma begins seizing on the table- teams of doctors and nurses racing around her.

Two nurses unceremoniously shove Regina out of the room verbalizing the 'we'll do everything we can' platitude, also known as the tell-tale sign of an astoundingly bleak situation, back at her over their shoulders before they both disappear into Emma's room. She stands motionless in the hallway, praying to any god that will listen to please allow her wife to be okay.

Barely holding herself together, she doesn't notice the two people approaching her until a sharp intake of breath and a terrified utterance of her name reach her ears. She turns to see the two idiots rushing toward her from the other end of the long hall. No words are spoken as they take her in, covered head to toe in her wife's blood and barely upright. Charming reaches her first. He places his hand around the crook of her elbow where her arms are wrapped securely around her own torso. That one touch is all it takes to cause Regina to shatter completely. She falls into him weeping hysterically before her knees buckle and she sends them both tumbling to the ground. He wraps his arms around her, holding her soundly against him.

"I can't lose her too," Regina repeats endlessly into Charming's chest between gasping sobs. "I can't, I can't lose her too. Please. I can't lose her."


	17. Chapter 17: A Living Nightmare Part 4

There's so much blood. The floor is painted crimson under the still form of her dying wife. She can feel it through their bond, her true love slipping away. She screams until her throat is raw and aching. She fights and fights to get to her, to get to Emma, but to no avail. She can't reach her. She can't save her. She's watching her die.

"Emma!" Regina whimpers over and over again. "Emma!"

"She can't hear you, Regina. She's too far gone," a voice echoes from the shadows before a figure erupts casually from within the darkness. "Your Majesty, it would appear you have run out of time."

"No!" Regina roars dangerously. "No, I won't let you take her from me."

The figure chuckles dispiritedly before drawling darkly, "It would seem I already have. How does it feel, Regina, to watch eveything you hold dear slip through your fingers and be powerless to stop it?"

"Please," Regina implores. "Please, don't do this."

The figure ambles toward the Evil Queen nonchalantly, before dropping to his knees in front of her and sweeping her hair behind her ear to hiss to her despondently, "Too late."

The figure vanishes into the shadows once more as Regina struggles and cries out, fighting desperately to free herself and save the woman she loves. But there is no escape. She's going to lose her. There's so much blood, so much blood. Her head and heart are pounding wildly. She's going to lose her. She's going to lose her.

"Regina. Regina, my love, open your eyes. Regina."

Regina is roused by an alarmed but comforting voice uttering her name softly over and over. She feels a warm hand encase her own and squeeze as it coaxes her away from the overwhelming darkness of her own exhausted mind. Regina finally opens her eyes only to see dim emerald staring lovingly back at her.

"Hi, beautiful," the pink lips of her love whisper before smiling at her knowingly.

"Emma," Regina breathes as the tears that have been building behind her chocolate eyes begin to silently stream down her exquisite face. "I thought," Regina whimpers brokenly, "I thought I'd lost you." She finally says before rising from her chair and cautiously burying her face into her wife's neck where her tears spill across her own cheeks before marring the skin of Emma's clavicle.

"I'm right here, My Queen," Emma reassures sweetly. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

Regina sobs into Emma's neck for several long moments as Emma rubs her back and places kisses wherever she can reach before Regina slowly extracts herself from her love's sustaining embrace only to perch on the edge of Emma's hospital bed. Neither one need voice the desire to be no further away from one another than absolutely necessary.

As Regina struggles to compose herself, Emma lays a hand on her thigh and questions weakly, "What the hell happened to us, Regina?"

Regina sucks in a labored breath before responding with a question of her own, "What do you remember, sweetheart?"

"I don't really know. It's all kind of a blur," Emma responds as she attempts to readjust her body to be more comfortable on the unforgiving mattress. However, all she actually accomplishes is causing a jolt of pain to race through her side and a wince that she tries, and fails, to hide from Regina, which generates a look of terrified concern across her lover's face that has Emma frowning for more reasons than just because of the pain in her abdomen.

"Are you alright?" Regina questions nervously.

"I'm fine, Regina," Emma sighs indignantly before quickly altering the subject by attempting to finally respond to Regina's earlier question. "I remember a room, a dark room, with stone walls and a stone floor. I remember pain, like fire, in my side. I remember your voice. You sounded so afraid, but I don't, I don't remember why." Emma pauses then to look confusedly at her wife who is currently avoiding her eyes. "Regina, what happened?" Emma asks again whilst gripping her wife's thigh tightly with her right hand.

"We were kidnapped, Emma. He took us to a room underneath his mansion. He took us there to torture us. He intended to kill you and force me to watch you die," Regina says flatly, trying desperately to keep her emotions under control. "He," Regina's voice breaks harshly as her emotions best her and more tears fall from her eyes, "he almost succeeded. Emma, I thought you were dead."


	18. Chapter 18: The Three Stooges

A furious knocking on the front door caused both women to startle and jump apart out of habit before glancing at one another and smirking simultaneously. They didn't have to jump apart anymore. They had told their son about their relationship, and Emma had informed her parents just last night. Eveyone else in town would find out either through the rumor mill or from seeing them together. They no longer needed to pretend, and it felt damn good.

Emma broke their shared momentary reverie by huffing out a sigh and asking, "Are you expecting anyone?"

"No," Regina responded driely, "but that doesn't mean that people don't just show up anyway."

"Well," Emma cheekily replied as she sauntered invitingly toward her girlfriend, "if you don't appreciate people showing up on your doorstep uninvited all the time, perhaps you should get a 'Beware of Dog' sign and hang it on the fence."

"Mmm," Regina hummed as her girlfriend engulfed her small frame in a warm embrace, "but I don't have a dog."

"That, My Queen, is an excellent point," Emma acquiesced before placing feather-light kisses across her girlfriend's jaw toward her ear and whispering promisingly, "I can always get on all fours for you and let you take me from behind to help sell the lie if you'd like."

Regina chuckled as her girlfriend continued the assault down her neck, both sets of eyes darkening significantly with each gentle press of lips to skin. But before lips could meet in a heated kiss, the knocking on the front door jolted the two women yet again, both having forgotten all about the previous knocking.

"While I go see who feels the need to disturb us so rudely," Regina sighed, "will you please pull the cookies out of the oven? Henry will not be pleased if I have failed him in this his only request after finding out about us."

"Yes, beautiful," Emma nodded before releasing her girlfriend from her embrace and walking toward the oven while Regina exited the kitchen and headed to answer the door. She barely managed to hold back a groan when she came face to face with the last three people she would ever wish to see standing on her stoop.

"Regina," Snow greeted, "we would like to speak with you if you don't mind."

"And if I do mind?" Regina retorted, thoroughly uninterested in whatever the trio came to say.

"Regina, please," Snow spoke earnestly causing Regina to sigh audibly before opening the door further and allowing the group into her home.

As Regina was closing the door tightly behind them, Emma's voice rang through the downstairs, "Babe, who was it?"

"Not who was it, dear, who is it," Regina called back before surveying her guests once more as Emma approached them. "It just so happens to be your mother, the Prince who stole Christmas, and Captain Covergirl. Tell me, Captain, were you born with it, or is it Maybeline?" Emma barely managed to hold in a snort of laughter at her girlfriend's derisive tone and haughty attitude.

"I'm not in the mood for your jests, Your Majesty," Killian sneared as he raised his hook, placing it dangerously close to Regina's neck. "Perhaps, we can settle this in a more effective manner."

Before anyone else could even think to move, Emma darted forward and forcibly shoved Killian back several paces before growling angrily, "Stay the fuck away from her, or so help me, I will shove that hook so far down your throat, you won't be able to swallow anything else for a month." Killian righted himself dramatically as Emma inhaled sharply through her nose several times in an attempt to calm herself enough to address the group again, "Now, I don't know why you're all here, and honestly I could not care less. So, you can see yourselves out."

With that Emma turned to walk away gripping Regina's arm softly to lead them both back to the kitchen, but Charming's voice cut through the foyer, "Emma, wait, we just want to talk."

Emma whipped around with fire in her eyes, "Really, David? You just want to talk? Then why the hell did you bring the handless jackass with you?"

"Emma," Snow gasped apalled at the tone her daughter had taken.

"What?" Emma questioned turning to face her mother, anger barely in check yet again. "You come barging in here to, to what? To interrogate my girlfriend? To question my relationship like I'm some kind of child in need of a lecture?"

"Emma, sweetheart, it's alright," Regina soothed as she wrapped her fingers gently around her girlfriend's bicep to try and divert her attention and calm her lover down slightly.

"It's not alright, Regina," Emma responded as she looked deeply into her girlfriend's chocolate orbs before placing a light kiss on her cheek, letting Regina know that she understood what her lover was trying to do. Emma's eyes then hardened yet again as she turned abruptly back to her and Regina's suddenly rather uncomfortable audience. "I need you all to leave. Now," she stated forcefully before walking brisquely back the way she had come, not sparing her parents or Killian a second glance. The room was bathed in silence as the remaining four people gaped at each other.

The silence was finally interrupted by the lady of the house drawling sarcastically, "I trust you can see the door and have lived long enough to know how to close it behind you on your way out." Regina shot the trio an irritated glare and then turned on her heel to trace her girlfriend's footsteps back toward the kitchen and away from prying, judgmental eyes.

Regina found Emma clutching the counter with pale knuckles, "I'm sorry I let in the three stooges. I honestly didn't think they would have this much of an issue with us, considering how much we've all been through in the past few years." Regina wrapped her arms securely around her girlfriend's waste before nuzzling affectionately into her neck.

Emma was quiet for several moments before she chuckled, "You know who the three stooges are?"

"Have I been living under a rock for the past thirty odd years?" Regina questioned. "Of course I know who they are."

Emma laughed again as she turned in her girlfriend's embrace to place a chaste kiss on crimson lips, "God, I love you." Regina gasped silently as Emma's words resonated deep in her soul. Emma seemingly not realizing what she had said until she looked up into terrified brown eyes.

"Regina? What?"

"You love me?" Regina questioned rather breathlessly, with fear and hope coursing through her entire being.

Emma let out a puff of air as she removed one of her hands from Regina's waist to comb through her blonde curls, eyes glued to the floor, "Yea, I, I do. I love you. I'm sorry if that's not okay."

Regina placed two fingers under Emma's chin and slowly lifted so the blonde was forced to make eye contact once more, and without hesitation admitted for the first time out loud, "I love you too."


	19. Chapter 19: A Family Affair

"God, you're so damn cute," Emma said as she winked saucily at her wife.

"Say one more word, and you're sleeping on the couch for a week," Regina glared at Emma as she attempted yet again to zip her jacket over the large protrusion of her abdomen.

"Yes ma'am," Emma responded through a chuckle before turning to holler animatedly up the stairs. "Kids! We are leaving right now. Let's go." Seconds later, three pairs of feet could be heard moving frantically across the floor from various rooms in the house.

"Darling, perhaps we should seek out Mr. Gold for assistance," Regina said, looking gravely at her wife.

"What? Why?" Emma questioned concernedly.

"Because I belive our children have been replaced with a hurd of elephants, and I'm not sure I know how to turn them back," Regina said completely stone-faced before the corners of her lips curled up sweetly.

Emma laughed at her wife before pulling her securely into her own arms, "You, Regina Swan-Mills, are hilarious."

"Mmm," Regina hummed contentedly, "I am aware, my love." The two stood tangled in each other's limbs waiting for their children to finally emerge when Regina let out a pained whimper and grasped Emma's jacket firmly in her fists.

Emma didn't hesitate to rub her wife's back soothingly before whispering encouragingly into her ear, "It's okay, babe. I've got you. It'll pass in a minute. You're alright."

Regina nodded against Emma's neck as they clung to one another until the pain subsided once more, and Regina immediately let out a sigh of relief as the tension in her body dissipated. She then kissed her wife on the temple and snuggled comfortably back into their embrace once more.

"I love you," Emma said while pecking Regina's skin anywhere she could reach.

"And I love you," Regina replied while humming her approval of Emma's wandering lips and heated breath. "But this whole having contractions before you're even in labor thing makes me want to punch you in the head sometimes."

Emma laughed heartily before pulling away to look Regina in the eyes, "You forget I've done this too. Three times now as a matter of fact."

"Yes, well, now it's my turn, so I get to be as whiney about it as you always were," Regina deadpanned cheekily.

"God, help us all," Emma countered as she turned toward the upstairs yet again. "Kids! We have to go right now! All of you had better be down here and ready to walk out this door by the count of ten, or there will be no dessert for anyone at dinner. 1! 2!"

As Emma continued to count down next to her, Regina merely giggled into her palm as the sound of six feet racing through the house toward the foyer grew louder and louder until her eyes landed on two heads of bleach blonde curls and a very perturbed teenager.

"Moms," the grumpy tone of Henry's voice nearly palpable, "do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a whole pair of shoes in their room? It's like searching for two identical needles in a haystack made of needles. And it's not like the two of them are helpful. At all."

Regina waddled forward and placed her palms on Henry's cheeks, "We know, Henry. Thank you for helping. Your mom and I appreciate it." Regina pulled Henry down towards her and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Henry merely rolled his eyes before pulling his head back up and backing away slightly to look his mother in the eyes, "Yea, yea, yea, save all that mushy crap for mom. I know you love me." He teased through a smirk he could only have learned from his brunette mother.

"That I do," Regina responded while giving Henry a warm, loving smile.

"Mommy!" the three year old squealed while doing the universal child signal for 'pick me up now' in Regina's direction.

Emma watched her wife's face fall as she attempted to gage whether or not she would actually be able to pick up her young daughter, but before Regina could get all the way through the internal struggle, Emma reached down and scooped their child off the floor and kissed her loudly on the cheek, "Mommy can't pick you up right now, silly girl. She's carrying around your little sister in her belly, remember?"

"Yea," Henry chimed in, "if mom bent down to pick you up, then the balloon around the baby inside her belly would pop."

"Henry," Regina scolded as her youngest daughter gasped dramatically still tangled around Emma's sturdy frame. Henry had the common sense to look at least slightly sheepish as Regina turned to face Emma and their daughter, who was currently eyeing her belly suspiciously. "I promise I'll hold you for as long as you want as soon as your baby sister is born, okay angel?"

The three year old looked into Regina's eyes, her expression morphing from concern into complete appeasement as she responded with an excited, "Okay, mommy," before wiggling until Emma placed her back on the floor next to her older sister.

"Okay," Emma broke the sudden silence, "let's get coats on and get out the door. Nan and Pop and Neal are probably already waiting for us at the diner." Emma started grabbing coats and tossing them to their respective owner before turning to Henry, "Son, go start the car for me, would you please? And help your sisters get buckled."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Henry responded daringly before scooping both of his sisters up, one on each hip, and teetering playfully out the door.

Regina began to follow her wife and children to the car, but Emma turned around abruptly to place a chaste kiss on wine colored lips before bending at the waste to place another kiss on her wife's swollen belly.

As her head popped back up, Regina questioned her confusedly, "What was that for?"

"I don't want you to punch me in the head," Emma responded through a shit-eating grin.

Regina sighed audibly, "I promise I won't punch you in the head. Now tell me."

Emma smirked at her again before wrapping her arms around her wife and whispering affectionately into her ear, "You're so damn cute." Regina just chuckled and playfully swatted at her before pulling away and finally heading out the door.

As Emma locked up, Regina called back to her wife over her shoulder, "Congratulations, my dear, you just earned yourself a free night on the couch."

Emma turned from the door so quickly she almost threw her neck out, "Wait, what? I thought that was a joke. Baby, you are kidding, right? Regina?"

Regina just laughed as Emma ran to catch up with her, bottom lip stuck out as far as it could possibly go.


	20. Chapter 20: A Confession

Regina went to the station in search of her Sherriff, but all she found was an empty office and a cold mug of coffee next to the Sherriff's pencil sharpener. As she went in search of a pen and paper to leave her lover a note regarding what time she could come over that evening, Regina found something she didn't expect. On the very top of the pad of paper she found in Emma's drawer was a hand-written note with the words 'Dear Regina' written in Emma's typical chicken scratch across the top. She knew she shouldn't, but Regina never really did what she 'should do'. So, instead of respecting her lover's privacy, Regina slowly deciphered Emma's scrawl line by line.

Dear Regina,

I swear I have started writing this letter a thousand times, but as soon as I start to write, I stop again, because I just can't seem to find the words I wish I could say to you. Everything comes out wrong, and it's never enough. But I can't continue not telling you. You have to know. I have to tell you, because seeing you every day and not telling you is killing me. So, here goes nothing.

I'm in love with you, Regina. I think I've been in love with you for a very long time, maybe even forever, and I just didn't realize it. I don't know. All I do know is that you are everything. You're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep at night. Actually, you're every thought in between too.

I miss you when you aren't around. Sometimes I make up questions about my paperwork, so I can call you in the middle of the day just because I want to hear your voice.

I want us to be a family, Regina- you, me, and our son. Storybrooke is where I'm meant to be, but, Regina, you are my home. You make me feel safe, and you understand me better than anyone. And you can deny it all you want, but I understand you better than anyone too.

I could love you the right way, the way you deserve, if you'd just give me a chance. I think we could be happy, really happy. I want that, to be happy, with you. I guess I'm just really hoping that maybe you can want that with me too.

I can't wait to see you later.

Yours,

Emma

P.S. Please don't fireball me after you read this.

Regina can hardly keep her tears at bay. Emma Swan is in love with her. Regina takes a moment to revel in the fact that for the first time in a very long time, she is loved by someone other than Henry, someone who, if Regina is completely honest with herself, she's been falling for since she first laid eyes on her all those months ago. As she's fighting to regain control over her emotions, Regina hears footsteps coming toward her from the end of the hall. Regina quickly shoves the pad of paper back into Emma's drawer before standing and leaning seductively against the door to the Sherriff's personal office.

As she sees emerald eyes finally glance up and notice her, she purrs provocatively, "Look who finally decided to grace her office with her presence."

"Regina," Emma breathes, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see the Sherriff of my town, but she was absent when I arrived. I went to leave her a note, but I heard footsteps coming down the hallway before I could. It seems you have better timing than I always assumed, my dear."

Emma smirked at her visitor as she waltzed past her and into her office, "Yes, well, I aim to please, Madam Mayor."

Regina turned to face Emma only to see her bent over to retrieve a pen that had dropped to the floor by her chair. Regina hummed appreciatively at the sight, "I'll have to keep that in mind for future reference, Sherriff."

"You do that," Emma responded as she righted herself and winked at the Mayor before dropping unceremoniously onto her chair. After a few moments of comfortable silence where the two women appraised each other longingly, Emma continued, "Now, did you actually need something, or were you just stopping in to intimidate me with your ability to raise your eyebrow at me on command?"

Regina let out a short bark of laughter at that before sauntering toward Emma. As Emma turned her chair to face her visitor, Regina bent over to whisper in her ear, giving Emma a delectable view of the flesh hidden beneath the Mayor's button-down. "I just wanted to stop by and tell you in person how delicious you look. I could hardly contain myself when I saw you at Granny's this morning."

"Is that so?" Emma said confidently. "Well, Madam Mayor, what do you intend to do about that?"

Regina chuckled darkly, still bent over near Emma's ear, her warm breath carressing Emma's skin teasingly, "Come over tonight after Henry is asleep, and I'll show you."

Emma hummed passionately as Regina pressed a whisper of a kiss to her cheek before straightening herself and walking purposefully out of the station and to her Mercedes, not once looking back at the flustered blonde Sherriff.

Emma let the silence ruminate for several minutes before she interrupted its soliloquy with her own internal monologue, "Fuck, that woman is going to be the death of me."


	21. Chapter 21: A Fight

They're fighting. They haven't fought, not really anyway, not since their daughter was born. She completed them, made them a functioning, cohesive unit. They seemed to just know what the other was thinking at all times, whether in regards to each other, Henry, or the green-eyed cutie that already had them completely wrapped around her little finger.

When they found out Emma was pregnant again, they were thrilled. Regina always wanted a big family, and Emma always wanted any family. So, further expanding the family the two of them created together didn't surprise anyone, including the soon to be mommies (again). They had all been so happy without incident for so long that the argument completely threw Regina. She wasn't even sure what exactly they had been arguing about. Which is why, she's now sitting in the den nursing a glass of cider and staring at the fireplace. Emma had stormed off several hours ago saying she just needed to be alone. Regina had heard a door slam upstairs, so she assumed her wife was in their bedroom sulking.

Regina was so lost within her own thoughts she hadn't heard Emma worriedly call her name several times from the top of the stairs. Her staring contest with the logs in the fire was only interrupted when she caught movement in her peripherals. There Emma stood, leaning against the doorframe, eyes red-rimmed, tears streaming down her face, breathing far too quickly, and looking as if she might capsize on the spot. In an instant, Regina was off the couch, all hands on her wife.

"Emma, beautiful, what ever is the matter?" Regina questioned her wife, hands coming up to cup her cheeks adoringly as she searched frightened emerald eyes for answers.

"My mom and dad are bringing Neal over," Emma responded, her voice choked. "They should be here any minute."

"What? Em, why are they coming here? It's the middle of the night."

Emma's arms were wrapped securely around her own middle as she ducked her head and studied the floor below their feet before whispering forlornly, "Regina, I'm bleeding."

Regina's eyes flooded with concern as her hands and eyes began roving her wife's body looking for any sign of blood, "What do you mean you're bleeding? Baby, where? Did you cut yourself on something?"

Emma looked up then, fresh tears falling from between drenched lashes, "No, Regina, I'm _bleeding_."

Regina locked confused eyes with her wife for a moment before realization struck. Her eyes instantly filled with tears as she brought her hands to rest on Emma's own atop her wife's middle.

"Emma," she breathed.

Emma choked back a sob as she looked sorrowfully at the love of her life, "Gina, I'm scared."

"Oh, darling," Regina cooed as she pulled her now fully sobbing wife into a firm embrace. "Baby, it's going to be just fine. As soon as your parents get here, we'll go to the hospital, and we'll see what's going on, okay? It's going to be fine."

Regina continued to hold and comfortingly shush her wife as she tried to keep them both as calm as possible. But Regina's heart was pounding in her chest as silent tears dropped from worried, chocolate eyes onto Emma's matted, blonde curls.

…

They had been at the hospital for six hours, suffering through every test imaginable. Regina never once left Emma's side, she and her wife even resting together on the hospital bed in between visits from the nurses and Dr. Whale. When they were finally allowed to return to their home, the last thing either mother wanted in that moment was to be bombarded with questions from their worried family. Regina called Snow before they left the hospital to ask if she and Charming would be willing to take the kids to their own home for a few hours in order to give Emma and herself time to recuperate after such a stressful evening. Snow readily agreed.

As soon as they crossed the threshold into their home, Regina shut out the world and wordlessly led her wife to their bedroom where Emma wasted no time collapsing dramatically onto their bed face first before rolling to her side and beckoning for Regina to join her. Regina obliged immediately, curling into Emma's frame as soon as she was able.

"You scared me tonight," Regina whispered into Emma's hair as she held the blonde close.

"I know. I scared me too," Emma responded just as quietly before kissing the warm, olive skin on which her cheek had just been resting. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Regina replied through an exhausted sigh. "I'm just glad everything is okay."

Emma chuckled driely, "Yea, the newest member of our collection just wanted to make sure we were paying attention."

"Mmm," Regina hummed as she burrowed further into her wife's warmth. "If we're collecting, does that mean that after this one we aren't done? I mean, I would hardly call three a collection, my love."

Emma giggled as she playfully pinched Regina's sides causing a yelp to escape her brunette love, "How about we focus on bringing this one into the world first, hmm? I don't know about you, but I've had enough excitement for one night."

"Yes, dear," Regina muttered sweetly, placing adoring kisses on Emma's hair.

The room fell silent as the two women simply enjoyed the much needed calm.

Emma shifted slightly as she pulled her face away from Regina's neck in order to meet her wife's gaze, "I'm sorry we fought, beautiful. I don't know why I was so angry. I just couldn't help-"

"I know, my love," Regina replied as she pulled Emma's lips to her own for a chaste kiss. "It's okay. We're all okay."

Emma placed another kiss on her wife's burgundy lips, "I love you."

"And I you," Regina replied as Emma fell ungracefully back into Regina's body and buried her face in her wife's neck once more. "But you get to do the dishes for the rest of the week to make it up to me."

Emma let out a puff of air that almost resembled a laugh before kissing her wife's clavicle sweetly, "Yes ma'am."


	22. Chapter 22: Late Night Shenanigans

The Queen is unable to hide the light smirk always elicitied by the sight of her blonde-headed monster knelt before her with not but devotion shining in emerald orbs.

"You summoned me, My Queen," the purr of the blonde Knight's voice carresses the monarch's senses and makes her knees weaken.

"That I did, my Knight," Regina replies, voice dripping sex, as she brazenly admires her Knight's defined musculature. "There is something I recquire of you."

"Then I shall do your bidding without question, My Queen," the Knight responds hoarsely, voice dropping an octave, as her eyes rise slowly to meet those of her Queen. "I live only to serve you."

The Queen chuckles deeply, "Of that I am aware, my dear."

"How may I serve you this eve, Majesty?" the blonde questions curiously, letting her eyes drop once more to the floor in front of her Queen's throne.

The Queen stands abruptly from her perch before bending to place two fingers under the chin of the woman still kneeling obediently before her. As her Knight's eyes rise to meet her own once more, Regina responds seductively, "I have no need of my Knight this night."

The blonde's eyes crinkle confusedly before questioning, "My Queen?"

"It is not my Knight I require," Regina repeats coquettishly. At her Knight's persistent, bewildered stare, the Queen continues- true intentions still masked beneath a regal smirk, "It is my Emma whose services I desire."

The Queen can see perfectly the exact moment her words register within the blonde, for emerald eyes become instantly black upon the realization of their shared longing. An agile tongue withdraws from its confines before licking swiftly over cracked lips, and a breathy exhale escapes carrying with it a heady, "Regina."

The Queen allows her own gasp to fall from between parted, burgundy lips before using the two fingers still hooked underneath her Knight's chin to pull the blonde from the floor to standing. When Queen and Knight are finally eye-level, Regina wastes no time with further pleasantries. She begins to plunder the blonde's mouth with her own, all tongue and teeth and breathless whimpers. Oxygen quickly becomes a necessity as Regina is regrettably forced to pull her mouth away from the molten heat of her Knight's, unintentionally providing the Knight an opportunity to quench her hunger for her Queen by placing fevered kisses and echoing nips across every inch of the brunette's caramel skin. Regina allows the attention before bracketing the blonde's chin between her fingers and forcing darkened, emerald orbs to meet her own dark chocolate.

"Emma," Regina whispers, lips ghosting the now deepened pink of her love's own. Regina's thought is left unvoiced though, as Emma's craving for her Queen increases tenfold at the unexpected use of her name. Emma's lips crash solidly into those of the Queen, and Regina finds herself unable to summon the will to chastise her Knight for interrupting her, especially not when said Knight's mouth is moving so deliciously against her own.

There's a sudden rush of heat as easily recognizable purple smoke coils around the two women before depositing them gracefully in the Queen's chambers. Roving hands clutch hips and thighs and everything in between, as Knight and Queen become thoroughly lost in not but each other.

…

"Mmm, Emma," Regina's hoarse whisper breaks through the silence of their bedroom as she rolls further into the warm body lying next to her.

Emma's own body curls almost immediately into her wife's, as she sleepily grunts and attempts to force her eyes open, "What Regina?"

Silence descends upon the room for a mere moment before Regina's voice once again cuts through the stagnant air. A whimper, a breathy exhalation, a purr, and finally a deep, throaty, "Emma, mmm, don't stop" have a certain blonde's eyes shooting open before they knowingly survey the hauntingly beautiful sight lying only inches to her left.

Emma eases herself up to leaning on her elbow and hovers over her wife's heated skin. She begins placing gentle kisses across the brunette's collarbone and shoulder as she continuously whispers her wife's name, "Regina, baby, wake up." Emma repeats the phrase over and over again in between pecks to suddenly goose-pimpled skin, until the body beneath her own begins to respond to her carresses.

"Emma," Regina hums as her eyes slowly begin to shift open, "what time is it?"

Emma continues her assault on Regina's neck and jaw as she breathily responds, "I have no idea."

"Then why are we awake?" the brunette questions petulantly while simultaneously turning her head in order to give her wife more room for her explorations.

Emma hums in her wife's ear, "Because you were moaning my name in your sleep and telling me not to stop, and I couldn't help but wish to be involved. So, tell me, my love, what exactly was I doing to garner such a reaction?" Emma punctuates her question with a piercing nip to her love's earlobe.

"Oh, God, that," Regina responds through another moan.

Emma effortlessly rolls atop her wife and sucks the brunette's bottom lip into her own mouth before nibbling softly, causing Regina's hips to buck in response.

"You're already so ready, aren't you, my love?" Emma husks, her warm breath carressing skin as she places unhurried kisses across her wife's face- eyes, forehead, the tip of a nose, and lastly salty, sweet lips.

Regina pulls her lips away from the ones hovering above her, "Yes, oh, darling, please touch me."

Emma doesn't hesitate to lower her hand down the front of Regina's loose-fitting pajama bottoms- a plaid pair that Regina pilfered from her- and runs her middle finger in tight circles across an already swollen, aching clit.

"Oh, yes, Emma," Regina whimpers into blonde curls as Emma places more kisses against her jaw and continues circling her wife's most sensitive area.

Without preamble, Emma suddenly removes her fingers from her wife's excited bundle of nerves in order to plunge those fingers as deeply into the source of the brunette's heat as she can manage. A strangled cry leaves Regina's lips before she can stifle it as her wife works her over with fervor. Emma moves her lips back over those of the brunette below her in an effort to swallow every moan and whimper. After what feels like mere seconds, Emma feels her wife gasping for oxygen before a muffled cry reverberates around their bedroom, and all movement instantaneously haults until the world comes crashing down once more, Regina's orgasm ripping through her body and senses leaving her panting and clawing the back of the woman atop her.

Emma moves to lie down next to her spent wife, still keeping her arms wrapped firmly around Regina's thin frame. "So," she begins quietly, "you going to tell me what you were dreaming about now?"

Regina chuckles before turning her head to place a gentle kiss atop her wife's golden curls, "Mmm, that," she hums, "but you were wearing armor, and I was in a corset."

"Ahh, another Queen/ Knight dream," Emma giggles uncharacteristically. "It's been a long time since you've had one of those."

"Indeed it has."

Emma hums again before beginning to place kisses to the curve of her wife's neck, "I love you, Your Majesty."

Her words cause Regina to smirk before the brunette moves from beneath her wife in order to straddle pale hips. "And I you, My Knight," she responds before capturing her wife's lips in a heated kiss once more.


	23. Chapter 23: A Night on the Town

**AU Fic: Regina and Emma meeting for the first time at a bar in the city.**

…

Emma has been attempting, and failing, to escape the presence of the curly-haired, strawberry blonde who has been regailing her with stories about bad nail salon experiences for the better part of the past half an hour. How she had gotten herself into this mess, she doesn't really know, but it has to stop. It has to stop right now, or Emma is positive horrible things will happen. She glances around the bar for what feels like the millionth time, praying she'll find a previously overlooked, plausbile escape plan. Nothing promising catches Emma's eye until her gaze lands on an absolutely mesmerizing brunette who is sitting on a couch overlooking the bar, demurely sipping a glass of wine. Emma's breaths hitch in her throat before she feels a hand encase her forearm. She reluctantly turns her gaze back to the woman who is supposed to have her undivided attention.

"You're not even listening to a word I've said, are you?" The agitated blonde questions Emma.

Emma tries to find a feasible response that won't make her sound like a complete ass, but nothing comes to her; thus, she replies honestly, "No, honey, I haven't. I'm sorry, but you lost me at horrible manicure number two and never got me back."

The blonde huffs at Emma before opening her mouth to retort, but Emma takes the opportunity to cut the girl off before she can get trapped in yet another half hour of utter boredom, "If you'll please excuse me, I have something I need to do."

With that, Emma practically sprints from the corner of the bar where she and the blonde have been sitting, only to begin climbing the small set of stairs that lead her without hesitation directly toward the brunette bombshell. The unknown beauty doesn't even notice Emma's presence until Emma clumsily falls onto the couch next to her, drawing a raised eyebrow and amused smirk from the most beautiful face Emma has ever looked upon.

"Hi," Emma says through a flirtatious smirk.

"Hello," the brunette responds curtly. Emma is so enamored by the sultry tone of the woman's voice that she can't seem to make her own vocal chords react. Thus, Emma sits blankly staring at the woman, mouth slightly agape, wondering how someone so beautiful can actually be real. The woman seems slightly taken aback by Emma's lack of communication and raises an eyebrow at her before questioning, "Was there something you needed?"

The question does its duty and breaks Emma out of her near stupor. She finally gets her bearings and responds rather coyly, "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is."

"And what, dare I ask, might that be?" The brunette questions teasingly.

Emma takes a moment to appreciate the coy grin currently gracing the brunette's impeccable mouth before sighing dramatically and gesturing to the end of the bar where she had been trapped mere moments ago, "See that blonde with the curls over there by the bar?"

The brunette glances in the direction the blonde has indicated before nodding and responding in the affirmative, "Yes, what of her?"

"She," Emma pauses briefly to lean closer into the brunette's side before whispering conspiratorially, "is a pain in my ass." Emma can feel the vibration of the brunette's unrestrained chuckle in the places where the brunette's body now rests invitingly against her own before said chuckle carresses gorgeous crimson lips and floats delicately in the air between the two women. "I swear." Emma continues, "She won't leave me alone. It's ridiculous."

The brunette goddess chuckles deeply again before locking caramel orbs with shining emerald and responding warmly, "A lovely anecdote, my dear, but it still leaves me with no inclination as to my invovlement."

"Ah yes, you see, I have this strategy," Emma begins. "If I ally myself with the most beautiful woman in the room, then everyone else will see how high my standards have been set for the evening, thus they will all feel excessively inferior and subsequently leave me alone." Emma winks at the brunette enticingly before grinning proudly at the genius of her plan.

"Mmm," the brunette hums, "Am I to assume that I fit the bill for most beautiful woman in the room in this plan of yours?"

"Of course," Emma replies as she sips the whiskey she had all but forgotten since joining the alluring brunette next to her.

"And if said most beautiful woman in the room asks you to leave her alone?" The brunette questions while looking the blonde over brazenly. "What then?"

Emma cringes fiercely while placing her hand over her chest in pseudo heartbreak, "You have presented a set of variables I did not forsee."

The brunette shakes her head at the blonde's antics while laughing effortlessly, "You really are a piece of work, aren't you?"

Emma groans slightly at the implication behind the question, she isn't _that_ difficult, but she mentally acquiesces, slightly, before cheekily responding, "Only occassionally." Emma's tone then shuffles momentarily between one wrought with confidence and one riddled with past insecurities. "You aren't going to ask me to leave, are you?"

The brunette notices the slight change in her blonde companion but refrains from mentioning anything as she pretends to ponder her options, "As of this moment, no I am not. However, I retain the right to do so at any given time."

The blonde heaves an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, "Oh, absolutely, I would never dream of taking that right from anyone."

"Well, now that, that is settled," the brunette grins engagingly as she holds her right hand up between herself and the blonde beside her, "allow me to introduce myself. I'm Regina."

Emma turns her body toward the brunette before placing her hand in Regina's only to bring the brunette's profferred hand up to her own lips in order to place a whisper of a kiss on Regina's delicate knuckles, "It is lovely to meet you, Regina. I'm Emma." Emma then gently releases Regina's hand from within the confines of her own as she attempts to ignore the sudden loss she feels.

"Chivalry isn't dead, I see," Regina responds as her hand falls gracefully down to rest in her lap once more- the unexpected tingling sensation the blonde's lips on her skin had caused still undeniably present.

"Oh, but it is," Emma responds seriously, chuckling at the brunette's raised eyebrow before adding, "Where men are concerned. However, women still have the capacity to be quite chivalrous. Well, this woman does anyway."

"And where, may I ask, are you hoping this chivalry gets you?" Regina questions as her eyes trace the length of the bar before landing once more on the blonde at her side. "Or is this merely your method for winning the unconditional love of women everywhere?"

"Oh, I do hope not," Emma responds as she glances down to where the fingers of her right hand have been tracing the rim of her glass absentmindedly. "I don't do love."

Regina's eyebrow jumps up yet again as Emma lifts her eyes to meet the brunette's curious gaze, "You don't do love. Then what exactly do you do?"

"Romance," Emma says cheekily as she looks up at the brunette through her eyelashes. "I can open doors, buy flowers, and make you feel like the only woman in the entire world, but I won't love you."

Regina's eyes narrow slightly as she attempts to size up the woman lounging so comfortably next to her. "Hmm," she hums before a question bubbles from between her lips before she can even think to stop it, "So, what is it that you want?"

"From you?" Emma questions immediately.

"From me," Regina responds just as abruptly, while bringing her wine glass up to her full lips.

"Right now?" Emma candidly questions the brunette again.

"Right now," Regina smirks as she takes a tentative sip of her drink whilst awaiting her companion's response.

Emma takes a moment to unabashedly look Regina up and down, simultaneously poking a pink tongue between equally pink lips and licking them seductively. She responds just as her emerald eyes once again lock with mocha, "I want you to kiss me."

Regina stifles a surprised chuckle as it attempts to claw its way up her throat without her consent, before boldly asking, "And if I refuse?"

Emma feigns offense, clutching her heart dramatically once again before grinning proudly, "You and presenting all of these lurking variables I cannot forsee."

Regina chuckles deeply, "I try my best."

Emma hums appreciatively at the throaty quality of Regina's voice, "Well, you definitely succeed."

As the words vacate the blonde's mouth, her body unknowingly begins to shift closer to the brunette beside her. And though Regina has deemed this entire interaction unlike anything she's ever experienced before, like a moth drawn to the flame she feels her own body begin to close the distance between them as well.

Bodies shift, eyes lock, breathing shallows, and two women brace for impact. Moments before skin reaches skin, eyes roam to find lips a mere breath away from colliding. There's a spark that leaps between the two of them as they pause and seemingly revel in their closeness, and then suddenly, Emma inhales that last breath of air between them and surges forward, crashing her lips into the burgundy ones before her. Seconds seem like hours as Regina and Emma become completely consumed by one another. Lips meld beautifully as they suck, lick, nip, and taste each other for the first time.

…

Emma sits on the edge of the bed as gently as she can manage, having already showered and dressed in her attire from the previous night. Movement behind her catches her attention, and she turns to find sleepy, caramel eyes blinking owlishly back at her.

"Hi," a husky, sleep-ridden voice whispers.

"Hi," Emma whispers back, "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

Regina's gloriously naked body raises halfway off the bed as she stretches before sinking back into the comforting warmth of the sheets and pillows currently surrounding her, "No," she finally responds, meeting Emma's suddenly hungry gaze, "I'm an early riser. What are you doing up?"

"I wake with the sun," Emma husks as she bends over to finish tying up her boots, "It's a priso-" she stutters momentarily before correcting herself, "It's a habit."

Regina provides her with a hum of acknowledgment before Emma shyly whispers, "I had a good time last night."

The brunette unconsciously grins before whispering back, "As did I."

Emma smiles brightly as she stands to her full height and walks softly around the bed to perch next to the brunette. She waits until Regina has rolled over and is once again facing her before asking, "Does that mean I get to see you again?"

The brunette seems to silently ponder Emma's offer for a moment before batting her eyes and acquiescing with a flirtatious, "That could be arranged."

Emma giggles happily at that, a sound the brunette would never have imagined enjoying so much, before beginning to slowly lean down into the body wrapped in sheets that now smell of vanilla and spices, "Good. So, that rose I placed by the coffee pot with my cell phone number attached wasn't a misguided investment after all."

"No, I suppose it wasn't," Regina breathes against pink lips that dip just enough to capture her own in a heated kiss that's all tongue, teeth, and undeniable longing.


End file.
